A retro cushion and a Welsh triumph

Just because I haven't blogged over the weekend does not mean I haven't been doing my thing but I had the small matter of a Rugby 6 Nations decider to watch in Cardiff. Myself and Mr Kitch had tickets to go and watch England Vs Wales. I am a Welsh fan and he is an England fan so we knew it was going to be interesting. We met up with family and friends, drank some beer and watched Wales cruise to victory - amazing!

On Friday though I did turn my hand to making a cushion out of some of my recent ebay acquisitions. I decided I wanted a round cushion which would be a little trickier to sew (for me anyway, not for people who can already sew). I am fine with things in my house looking homemade but I also wanted it to look alright and not look like it had been made by a small child and displayed out of parental pride/obligation. So, this is how it went...

What you need:

• Fabric for the outer cushion
• Fabric for the inner cushion
• Dressmaking scissors
• Coordinating thread
• Extra strong thread (good if it also coordinates)
• Pins and a hand sewing needle
• Covered button
• normal button (or another covered button if you want, I only had 1) 
• Yard stick, just to make sure you have an equal ish cushion
• Something to fill the the cushions with. I got 1kg from Dunhelm Mill for 7.99 and used about a quarter of the bag for this.
• Something to draw around if you have it - trickier than I thought it would be to draw a circle

 I used an Ikea lampshade to draw around. A little inaccurate, granted, but it did the job. I cut out two of both the outer and inner fabric.

I then stitched around the inner lining (as above) right sides facing and left a 3 inch hole for stuffing purposes.

I turned the lining the right way out and  stuffed the lining until it was very full. You don't get the effect I wanted if you don't stuff it full. I then stitched up the hole

 I then stitched the outer fabric together, right sides facing and left about a 6 inch hole to put the cushion inner into the outer. I then put the cushion inner into the outer and used closed the hole using slip stitch which means you can't see the stitches. This is the first time I've tried this and was amazed that it actually worked!

                                       
I then covered the button using the instructions on the packet. It is fiddly but the effect is quite good. I then got a normal button (pictured below) and the covered button, found the centre (ish) of the cushion and began to sew through the cushion, using the extra strong thread to secure both buttons on either side of the cushion. Again, this is a bit fiddly but I really like the results.

                                        

I had a brown button in my button tin and thought it went quite well.

 

And voila, my 70s cushion. Perhaps a little like a child's school project but if anyone asks, I'll say I am displaying it with parental pride/obligation. To be honest I am totally chuffed with it (especially as I made it up as I went along) and it adds to my retro theme. I hope you had a lovely weekend.

LKx

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